Young Phillies look for team to rebound in 2014

Coming off a disappointing season in which the Phillies not only failed to reach the playoffs, but also the .500 mark, the team is hoping to turn things around.

So far this offseason, the Phillies haven't made any big splashes and opted to pick up some veterans to add depth or battle for a spot on the roster.

With their core continuing to age, the Phillies will need to rely on production out of some of their younger talent, barring any other offseason moves, if they want to get back to the top of the NL East.

Three of the players the Phillies could end up leaning on — Cody Asche, Jonathan Pettibone and Darin Ruf — were in attendance at the Phillies Annual Winter Banquet Thursday night held at the Sands Bethlehem Event Center.

Out of the three, all of whom received playing time last year with the big-league club, Asche has the best chance to start this season up with the Phillies. The third baseman ended last year with the Phillies and thinks that experience will help him going into this season.

"I think I'm more comfortable with everything," Asche said. "The first time you're up is always a challenge because it's a new experience. Once you've been there and experienced it, you can rely on those past experiences to help you through what's to come."

While Asche has the best chance to start 2014 with the Phillies, Pettibone has a pretty good shot as well. In fact, depending on how spring training goes, the right-hander could be the fifth man in the Phillies' starting rotation.

Last season, Pettibone went 5-4 with a 4.04 ERA in 18 starts before his year ended prematurely when he suffered a shoulder injury. He's spent the offseason making sure he's ready once the season rolls around.

"[I'm] trying to get healthy, trying to build my strength up, build my body up for a full season coming in to spring training and of course, the 2014 season," Pettibone said.

One offseason development that greatly helped Pettibone's chances of earning a spot in the rotation was the retirement of Roy Halladay in December. Still, Pettibone said he'll miss Halladay.

"Honestly, I was more disappointed than anything," Pettibone said. "Just learning from him, being alongside him in the same rotation, was a huge benefit for me in my first year."

While he has yet to cement a spot, Pettibone doesn't think he's going to add any new pitches to his repertoire. He's just planning to fine-tune what he already has and gain confidence in those pitches.

"I think I shied away from a sinker a little bit last year, and I kind of want to take that into spring and build off that a little more," Pettibone explained.

The 23-year-old was happy with the moves the Phillies have made so far, but his favorite decision of the relatively quiet offseason was the re-signing of catcher Carlos Ruiz.

"Signing back Chooch was, for me, another great deal. Having a veteran catcher like he is, knowing opposing hitters and knowing what to call, what they like and don't like, I think that's going to benefit me greatly."

With the addition of some of the other veterans like Bobby Abreu and Marlon Byrd, Ruf's path to making the team out of spring training has become increasingly difficult. However, he's looking at those additions as a positive.

"Any time you can have proven veterans like that, guys with a history of a lot of success at the major league level, it'd be dumb not to add them on your team," Ruf said. "They'll be guys that I look to for advice. I even got to spend some time with Marlon the last few days here in Philly, just bouncing ideas off of each other."

In addition to learning what he can from the veterans, Ruf has been focused on improving on his defense at each of the positions he appeared in last year, which included first base, right field and left field.

Asche, Pettibone and Ruf all think the Phillies have a strong team, one that's capable of winning, but they explained that expectations haven't been laid out for the club yet.

Because they all have confidence in the team and don't seem worried about being able to rebound after last season, Asche offered a guess at what they'll be told when it comes to expectations: "Play hard and the rest will take care of itself."